Our Final Week at Lakewood Retreat

Our sixth and final week has come quickly and now we will share the last of our experiences from this place. We have enjoyed our time here at Lakewood volunteering at the numerous jobs and renewing and making new friendships.

Annette and Sue worked together at a variety of painting jobs and palmetto trimming along the main driveway where guests get their first impressions as they come to the camp.

Jim and Dennis were asked to tackle a facelift in one of the multi-roomed cabins bathroom. First they removed everything and then started the process of putting up the new white paneling. Jim will leave this place confident that other workers will get the cabin ready for the next weekends booking.

One of the projects completed was this archery shelter by other volunteers. It will be welcomed by the campers in the summer time heat.

Jim built this picture frame for the office to display summer camp photos. Mary will finish the project by varnishing and mounting photos on mat board.

Here are a few shots of our familiar surroundings. The spring weather this week made it very enjoyable to lay back in the hammock.

A highlight this week was a visit by Rudy and Sylvia who were vacationing in the area. We enjoyed an outdoor lunch followed by giving them a tour of this lovely camp.

We did our final picking of the "wild" and "free" citrus on Lakewood's backwoods property. To pick the oranges and grapefruit we took a 24' extension ladder to reach the fruit still left on the tree.
This "grapefruit" dwarfed our dessert bowl.

To rest our aching bodies we have decided to take a few weeks vacation before heading north. Check out next weeks post to see what we discover.

Exploring Tarpon Springs

This week Sue and Annette painted these new cabinet doors which required three coats of the red. This was one of many jobs in completing the kitchen reno.

Painting new and refurbished signs for the camp.

Garbage can holders received repairs and a new coat of paint by Betty and Kay.

Dennis and Jim worked at making repairs to the Snack Shack this week. The air conditioner mounted in the wall had been leaking condensate into the wall for some time which caused rot and with this wet wood the carpenter ants also moved in. After gutting a section of wall, some studs and paneling were replaced. New white panels like we had used in the kitchen were used to cover one wall. A new air conditioner was installed and fixtures replaced. Sorry no pictures of this.

Jim also began work on a large picture frame for the office which will hold a collage of 12 photos of prior years of summer campers and staff.

On Saturday we explored the  city of Tarpon Springs "Florida's Mediterranean Village" which is also known as the " sponge capital of the world". Tarpon Springs is located northwest of Tampa.

The following paragraph from one of our brochures describes it best. Rich sponge beds, discovered in the 1880's, spawned a flourishing new industry. In 1905, young sponge divers were recruited from the Dodecanese Islands of Greece. The sponge industry thrived, as did the Greek community, and this fishing village that was settled in the early 1900's has grown into a tourist mecca.

Kitchen Makeover Week Two

Another week has gone by and it is time to let you know what we have been up to. Completing the kitchen renovation was the priority because Friday noon the cooks had to have their first meal ready.

An early start to the day allowed Jim the opportunity to try out the new zip line.

Monday we needed to get the final pieces of wall panelling in place because Tuesday the ceiling tile contractor was scheduled to install the new track and tile. Once the tile grid was in place our electrician got the job of wiring the new light fixtures. The new T8 fluorescents made the kitchen a lot brighter.

Another team worked at reinstalling the freshly painted cabinets and countertops while others replaced the stainless steel counters, backsplash and dishwasher.

Jim finishing the new cove base.

Karen and Dave stopped by for several vacation days and pitched in with cleaning. It was good to renew friendships from previous winters.

While these jobs were happening the ladies painted second coats of paint on drawers, cleaned ovens, racks and anything that needed cleaning in preparation to go back into its former location.

Working some extra hours, by Thursday five o'clock most everything was in it's place. We had taken some pictures so we could remember where to put things in their original location. An early seven a.m. crew Friday washed the floors and got the last of the cooking utensils and tables in place so the cooks could prepare a meal. The cooks were very pleased with their newly renovated working area.

We checked our Tuesday forecast and it was to be sunny, so we decided this would be a good week to do our stir fry meal for the potluck evening. The previous time when we tried it at a MDS site we had rain so we did not want to do that again. The stir fry this time fed 23 people although we did have a number of other main course casseroles. It was well received.

Sunday afternoon we picked grapefruit, juice oranges and tangerines with two other couples in the backwoods of Lakewood's property. Enough was picked to share with others.

Camp Kitchen Makeover

There was one open spot in the Lakewood calendar that the camp kitchen facility would be available for a two week span where there would be no food service required and be a good time for the kitchen renovation. So Monday morning all the volunteers were required to assist with the big move. The men moved nearly all the appliances, sinks, shelving, cabinets and the ladies moved pots, pans and kitchen stuff into the dining hall area.

Now the men continued their work of removing the ceiling tile and track, some unused A/C ductwork, old insulation and wall paneling.

 New drywall was installed in all damaged areas.

 Jim cutting fiberglass reinforced wall sheeting.

 While the men were busy in the kitchen the ladies tackled jobs like cleaning, priming and painting the cabinets, shelving units and drawers.

On Monday, after we had moved the kitchen stuff a few of us women got asked to trim a row of oleander shrubs near their water treatment plants which we finished by noon.

With the forecast of rain and cool weather by Wednesday, Susan our grounds keeper put Sue, Phyllis, Betty and myself on clearing undergrowth around the trees near the cabins on Tuesday. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the outdoors, but after a day of bending and stretching we were pretty tired.

Friday evening we attended the fundraiser concert for Lakewood Retreat's summer camping program. The special guests, Archie Watkins and the Smokey Mountain Reunion are a southern gospel quartet. Their leader Archie Watkins was delayed due to an emergency so one of the wives filled in and did a great job. We have been attending Sunday morning services at the Brooksville Wesleyan Church and this is also where the Friday concert was held.

On Saturday evening Darrel (one of the staff) & his wife Naomi, invited all the volunteers to their home for supper. Their eighteen guests enjoyed the food and visiting.